Harley Benton B-550 White Progressive Series

Can you gig this bass? I am
clip above is the DI track from the digital desk at the venue, I've even left my playing mistakes and lax timing in. I was playing in passive mode with the blend centred, bass boosted and a slight cut on treble. That's right you can still boost the bass and cut the treble in passive mode. This is a fairly unique feature I feel.

I'm happy with the 5th (B) string in particular, listen to the clip, those low Cs and Ds really thunder, especially in the flesh through a decent amp. The B doesn't feel floppy.

As expected with dual buckers it's silent when you are not playing, no humming. I was pleasently suprised to see that the bass is also shielded at the factory too. Likewise everything has been grounded correctly too, I can touch the pickups and all other screw heads and fittings with no buzzing.

The tuning pegs keep the guitar in tune. I transport this bass in a soft gig bag and it's virtually always still in tune when I get it back out of the case.

I set this bass up to my liking with plenty of play left in the adjustments. I use plectrums as I don't have feeler gauges. I set the truss rod so I can just about get a 0.5mm under the 7th fret when the first fret is capoed and I fret the last fret (this is neck relief for those new to guitar setups). I set the action at the 12th fret to about 1.4mm (G string) to 2.1mm (B string). No annoying buzzes if I play lightly, I can get that fret buzz when digging in for rock and when slapping though. Access right up to the last fret isn't an issue. No neck dive to speak of really.

Cons: price considered there arn't really any to write home about. The neck pocket could be a little tighter, this is a visual thing though and I suspect it doesn't effect the tone much if at all. The blend knob isn't the nice 3 way smooth blend you might expect, it very much acts as a 3 way switch, don't expect to experiment with 25% neck PU and 75% bridge. It's either 100% neck, 50:50 or 100% bridge. This isn't a bad thing though. The 3 sounds are great especially when used with bass and treble EQ controls.

This has become my main player. It's light, easy to play and versatile. I also don't worry about leaving it in my car or unsupervised at the venue. All I needed to do was swap the strings (I use Dunlop Birght Nickels 45-125). You might get the odd person sneer because it's a no-name brand. Just wow them with your playing and groove and they'll come around.